Background

The Minnehaha-Hiawatha Corridor parallels the Hiawatha LRT line from the Midtown Greenway to Minnehaha Parkway, between the LRT line and Minnehaha Avenue.  The corridor’s proximity to the LRT line provides incredible opportunity for development, yet the corridor experiences many challenges:  difficult traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian crossings of Hiawatha Avenue; a utility corridor that includes railroad tracks and high voltage power lines; poor quality pedestrian and bicycle facilities; aging industrial (including brownfield) land uses; an irregular street grid creating site access and parcel configuration problems; and other challenges for private assembly of sites for redevelopment.

Purpose

The purpose of the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works Project is to maximize the potential benefits from the Hiawatha LRT line by leveraging County investments in infrastructure to promote economic development, improve the natural systems of the area, improve transportation (including bike and pedestrian access), and enhance the area’s tax base.

As part of the Minnehaha-Hiawatha CW project, the County has contracted with several vendors to conduct key research that will inform the community works process in the corridor, including a cultural and historical resources inventory, environmental assessment, market analysis, and rail corridor study.

In addition, the county has contracted with HKGI to undertake a two-year process to identify and prioritize public investments in the corridor.  This process has included an extensive public participation process and compilation of existing reports and data to inform an analysis of corridor issues.  HKGI is using these findings to develop a Strategic Development Framework for the area.

Additional Information

Project Newsletter – Issue 1 (May 2009)

Overview and Invitation to Participate, May 2008

County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin introduced the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works program in the February 2008 issue of the Longfellow-Nokomis Messenger. Click here to link to the Messenger’s website, and go to page 7.

Project overview video, featuring Robb Luckow, Hennepin County Community Works

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